seedling query

[MickeyBlue42]

Hi people

Planted some 2 yr old Rezervoir Seeds- Strawberry Diesels.. Paid some serious $$$ for them ( 5 in total)

3 have come up...

Now I am growing indoors. I made up a soil mix with the following:

3 parts peat
2 parts topsoil
2 parts coco
3 parts perlite
1 part general potting compost

The seedlings have been growing for about 10 days under a 150w hps. They seem to be coming on very slowly.

Can I feed them with say a 0.5ml bio grow to 500ml water or is this a bad idea?? I cant help but thinking they need some food??

Please help

 

[ibjamming]

Pictures...

 

[coloradomedical]

I use H3ad's ratio, and with my seedlings and clones I use a 1/4 strength solution with no adverse problems... my theory is that you look at them too much and notice no growth and are just tooooo impatient.

 

[MickeyBlue42]

Okay my camera is fuc%$ed so pictures are not an option right now...

Coloradomedical: I actually went with 1/4 strength last night. Can you tell me though do you use this every watering or do you alternate it with plain water?

 

[Danny-boy777]

Because, If your using bio/organic nutes you cant hurt them with over zealous activity unless you pour the direct concentrate on them.

I agree and I agree because its my problem as well, I look at them way to much to notice growth, go get some ice cream sticks and stick them in to the pots behind the plants and mark their growth it will offer more satisfying results when you want to see if its grown or not,?

Good luck and try get some pics up.

Namaste

 

[MickeyBlue42]

update

update

Okay managed to get some pics....

The seeds were put into the soil mix exactly 14 days ago. This is what they are looking like today....

As you can see the leaves on the one are looking twisted and not correctly formed. Could this be heat related ?? My cab hits 83 faranheit at the hottest time of the day.

The one is doing pretty well but the leaf still has colour missing in certain places on the leaf.

What do you guys think??

 

[ibjamming]

I'd bet it's your pH. Is it tap? Ph is probably above 8. You should have added dolomite lime (you can top dress now) AND you need to pH your water. I had seedlings like that for YEARS until I learned my tap water pH was 9! I adjust it, use a mix similar to yours...and get results like this now... These seedlings are 10 days old.

You MUST get the conditions right if you want good seedlings. Good seedlings lead to fast vegetative growth...which leads to a bigger plant to begin flowering.

These are 3 weeks old...

And here is 1 month...ready for flowering.

What do you think YOUR plant will look like in a month? It may be dead. Water it with high 6 pH'ed water...it's dry...and she'll SLOWLY take off...be patient. Give it a full, to heavy run off watering, and then NOTHING for a whole week...maybe a tablespoon after 5 days to keep the top moist... And she'll recover and give you beautiful buds.

I'm just trying to help you out here...I had the same kind of seedlings...it's your water, I guarantee it. OR...you never watered it enough in the beginning and it's really thirsty. Also, keep the light close, I suggest a 23W CFL for starting seedlings. It's cheap to buy and cheap to run.

Remember...ONE complete watering with good pH'ed water...and WAIT...

Good luck!

 

[MickeyBlue42]

Thanks for the feedback ibjamming

I have checked my ph with testing strips. It reads approximately 6.5 - 7... it is definitely not greater then 7 .

I am finding this mix is not holding moisture that well. So lack of water might be the issue.

I have just watered with plain water (ph 6.7) and I have removed the 150w HPS and replaced it with a 60w CFL.

Lets see what happens

 

[GMT]

if you let the compost dry out too much, then it wont hold water very well, and a lot of it will a) run over the top and down the sides, and b) just run straight through the soil and out of the bottom. The way around this is to water a little bit, and let it soak in, then water a little bit more and so on. By doing that the compost will absorb much more of the water and hold it allowing the propper drying period to be extended.

 

[MickeyBlue42]

Thanks GMT

Will definitely remember that

 

[ibjamming]

If it's having trouble getting soaked...you can also submerge it...just dunk the whole pot and hold it under until the bubbles stop. Do it ONCE and then just a teaspoon here and there to keep the very top moist. I don't like/trust strips. Can you get some drops? The pet shop/section has them for about $5. Top dress with lime and water it in right after you do the soak.